Come What May
by Starlight99
Summary: Serena and Darien are partnered up to help with a program where doctors and volunteers are sent to provide free medical attention to people in poorer areas. Will the two kill each other before they even get there or will something else develop b/w the two.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Disclaimer: Sailor Moon does not belong to me. Also some of the scenes for the story are inspired/borrowed from an Indian soap called Dill Mill Gayye.**

**Come What May **

**Chapter 1**

Serena skipped over to the main desk in the hospital. "Hi, I'm Serena Tsukino. I'm supposed to be volunteering as a helper for the free day camp clinics." The free day camp clinic was a new program that the hospital was starting up that year. The main idea was for the hospital to send small groups of volunteers along with a doctor or two to the poorer areas where there wasn't a hospital or clinic nearby that was accessible. It had received a lot of publicity and many people had volunteered for it. Serena herself had been looking forward to helping out.

"Hi, I'm Nurse Lily." The young nurse on duty typed something into her computer. "Ah, yes. It says here that you've been assigned to go help at Cooperville."

"Where's that?" Nurse Lily smiled and explained that it was a four hour drive from the hospital.

"It's a really small town way out in the middle of the woods pretty much. The other volunteers have already left along with the doctor on duty there. You'll be going with-"

"Meatball head? What are you doing here?" Serena spun around only to come face to face with none other then Darien Shields.

"You! What am I doing here, what are you doing here?" Serena glared suspiciously at the older guy.

"Oh wonderful, you two know each other already." The two rivals spun around to stare in surprised confusion at the beaming nurse. "Darien is your assigned partner for the trip to Cooperville, Serena."

"What?" The two cried out in disbelief. Serena started to back away while shaking her head no. Darien only looked skyward and raised his hands slightly with a "heaven help me" look.

"Yup. All the volunteers were placed in groups according to the times they were available and whether they could drive or not." Nurse Lily looked up at Darien with a smile. "You did sign up as a driver, didn't you?"

"Well, yes…but-"

"Wonderful," the nurse interrupted. "Here's a map with the route highlighted. And let me go get your packs." With that she handed the map over to Darien and wandered into the back room. The pair left exchanged resigned looks of aggravation. "Here you go." Nurse Lily came back and handed each of them a heavy pack. "The others should already be there and expecting you. I hope you've got a full tank of gas, Darien. If not you should stop and fuel up before you go. It's a long drive and most of it is through the woods." Darien nodded and thanked the nurse. The two waved good bye to her and headed out to Darien's car.

Not a word passed between them as they got in. Only exasperated looks such as when Serena sill annoyed at being stuck with Darien took her aggravation out on her seat belt. Unfortunately she was unable to pull it out. Darien having put his on already watched her in amusement for a few seconds before reaching over and smoothly pulling it out and buckling her in. Shaking his head he handed Serena the map and started the car. The trip had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Right," Serena instructed staring at the map. Outside trees surrounded them on both sides and night had fallen.

"Right?!" Darien spluttered. "Are you out of your mind? There's no road to the right." He glanced over at the blonde in confusion.

"There is too! Turn right." Serena insisted with a tight smile.

"And I'm telling you there is no right turn." Darien glared.

"There is."

"There isn't."

"There is!" Serena snapped. Darien pulled the car to a stop and got out of the car. "Hey, where are you going?" Serena hurried and got out of the car to join him map still in hand.

"Can't you tell?" Darien said politely. "I'm going to go and pave a road so that we can turn right," he snapped gesturing towards the dense forest to the right. "Let me see that map." Serena handed it over and began to look around at the surroundings. The only light came from the car headlights. Nothing but trees could be seen on either side.

"Tell me something, Serena," Darien asked absentmindedly. "What grade are you in?"

"Huh. Oh, um 11th. Why?" Serena gave Darien a puzzled look at his seemingly random question.

Darien lowered the map and gave her a furious look. "Because you've been reading the map upside down," he hissed. "You've been giving me the wrong directions since we started!"

Serena swallowed in embarrassment before becoming angry herself. "Well don't blame me. You're the one who handed it to me upside down!" Darien who had spread the map out on top of the hood of the car to study it better looked up with a glare.

"Oh, so I suppose it's my fault then."

"You bet it's your fault. It's always your fault." By now the two were up in each others faces arguing heatedly. Suddenly a horrified expression overtook Serena's face and she let out a muffled cry pointing behind Darien. Darien spun around only to see that the wind had scooped up the map and was carrying it away. The two took off after it and only just stopped in time not to fall off the edge of a cliff. They watched in horror as the map came to a rest in the branches of a tree at the bottom of the cliff.

"This is all your fault!" Darien snapped spinning around to glare at Serena.

"My fault? Who was holding the map?" She snapped.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Bad idea," Serena stammered in a frightened voice as she watched Darien begin to lower himself down the cliff a rope tied to his waist.

"Good idea," Darien responded looking up at her with exasperation.

Serena only shook her head harder. "Bad idea."

"This is not a bad idea. Look I'm tied to the car. I'm going to go down and the get the map. When I have it I'll give you a signal and you just drive the car forward and pull me up. Simple," Darien patiently explained.

Serena continued to shake her head. "But I can't drive."

Darien looked at her and sighed. "It's not that hard, Serena. All you have to do is shift the gear to Drive and press the gas to go forward." With that Darien began to lower himself.

"If something goes wrong, don't blame me," she snapped walking briskly towards the car.

"Luckily I don't expect much out of you as it is," he called back.

Serena sat in the driver's seat worrying her bottom lip as she stared at the steering wheel. "I really can't drive," she whimpered.

"Serena! Serena, I have the map. Pull me up!" Serena heard Darien's cry through the open windows and with a silent prayer reached over and changed the gear to R pressing on the gas almost instantly. The car flew backwards with a jerk. Darien was sent rolling further down the cliff. "Serena!"

"Sorry!" She cried. Quickly she shifted the gear once more, this time to D and pressed on the gas again. This time she flew forward. Darien let out a cry as he was dragged back up. Jerking to a stop she shifted the car to park and quickly got out of the car.

Running to the edge of the cliff she looked down calling out Darien's name and pulling the rope up. She gasped in horror when the rope came up empty. Looking around she noticed a dirty shoe lying not to far from her. She scooped it up and looked at it in bewilderment. "If his shoe is here, where is he?" Hearing a groan she spun around only to see a pair of legs sticking out from underneath the car.

"Darien!" Serena raced over and grabbing his legs tried to drag him out from beneath the car. "Come on, you fatso," she grunted. She stifled back a startled gasp when Darien rolled over onto his back. Clothes tattered and covered in dirt, he gazed up at her with a dazed look. Serena huffed and glared down at him with her hands on her hips. "What were you doing under the car?"

Darien just stared at her before pulling himself up into a seated position and leaning heavily against the car. "Here," he said handing her the crumpled map. Serena took it from him only to gasp in horror as it fell from her hands in shreds. Darien stared with unseeing eyes at the remains of the map. "The plan was simple," he whispered. Serena turned to him with raised eyes. "I would go down and get the map. Then you would drive forward and pull me up. SO WHERE DID IT GO WRONG!?" he shouted.

Serena backed away from him. "Hey, no need to shout," she snapped. Darien only closed his eyes and tried to keep himself from screaming.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Darien and Serena sat leaning against a tree. Darien was methodically eating granola bars and chugging down a bottle of water, the disaster with the map having made him extremely thirsty. Serena sat next to him with an annoyed expression swatting at any bugs with a paper fan she had folded.

"Of course it's my fault," Serena started. "Who's else would it be. Some people around here just aren't ever willing to admit they're at fault." Darien glanced at her and just rolled his eyes.

"Hey," he cried out as Serena smacked him with the paper fan without even looking up.

"Mosquito," she responded. "Can't you see how many creepy-crawlies there are around," she gestured to the ground and area around them. "They're everywhere." Looking up at the man beside her she let out a sudden cry.

"What?" He asked in panic.

Serena just mock sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just you." Darien just shook his head once more rolling his eyes. "Did you know, you look just like these creepy-crawlies?" Leaning towards him conspiratorially she asked, "Family gene?" Darien ignored her and resumed eating.

"It's only for one night, Meatball head. We'll look for Cooperville come morning. So just behave yourself until then." Serena smacked him with the fan again.

"Mosquito," she explained. Darien gave her an annoyed look and stood up muttering about the crazy girl he was stuck with as he headed towards his car. "Hey where are you going?" Serena hurried after him just as he opened the back seat door. "I'm sleeping in the car," she told him with a glare pushing the door shut.

"So, you sleep in the front. I'll sleep in the back." Again Darien tried to pull open the door only to have Serena shove it shut again.

"I don't think so. I'm not spending the entire night in the same car as you." By now she and Darien were tugging the door back and forth.

"I don't care where you decide to sleep. But I'm sleeping in the back of MY car!" Darien managed to push the door open far enough to try to squeeze himself in only to have Serena shove the door into him as she tried to keep him out.

"NO!"

"Yes!"

"No way!" She pushed the door harder.

"Stop, you crazy girl! You're hurting me!" Darien tried to push the door off him so he could breathe better but Serena wouldn't budge. She only screamed in rage and shoved harder.

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A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Serena lay struggling in the back of the car, her arms and legs tied up and a gag around her mouth. Darien lay half asleep in the front, a smug smile on his face as he held the rest of the rope. "Shut up, she tells me. I'll show you how to shut up," he murmured sleepily. Serena kicked the back of the seat as best as she could and continued trying to free herself.

Some time later the young girl woke up with a start from where she had finally dozed off. She sat up with a start and looked around in fright. Noises from outside had startled her awake and she twisted one way and then another trying to see out into the darkness to see what was making the noise. She tried to get Darien's attention but with her mouth gagged it was pretty much impossible. Finally she just leaned over and elbowed him in the stomach. Darien sat up with a howl.

"What was that for?!" he snapped rubbing his stomach and grimacing in pain.

"Mmmmm," Serena tried to explain shaking her head for emphasis. Darien groaned and leaning over pulled the gag off her. "Finally," she snapped. "You horrible evil jerk! What's wrong with you?! As if it's not enough that you tie me up and gag me, now you're going around making scary noises trying to frighten me," she shrieked.

Darien rubbed the sleep from his eyes and just stared at her in confusion. "Why would I be trying to scare you? Do I look stupid or something? I was sleeping while you on the other hand were trying to maim me in my sleep!" He glared at her but Serena wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

"Who's there?" She cried out twisting around to peer out the back window. Darien hearing the noises as well got out of the car to investigate. Serena managed to hop out of the car as well though still tied up. "Hello!" she called out.

"Anyone there?" Darien called out walking backwards around the car. Serena felt herself hit something from behind and let out a short shriek of fear. Darien let out a horrified gasp before they both spun around and realized that they had only bumped into each other. "What are you doing behind me?" He snapped.

"I'm not behind you, you're behind me!" A noise from the woods had the two backing into the car. "Untie me!" Serena whispered urgently. Darien hurriedly leaned over and freed her from the ropes. A rock landed a few feet from them and sent them scurrying to hide behind the car. They lay flat on the ground and stared at the other side from underneath the car. "What kind of guy are you?!" Serena snapped at Darien. "Go out there and find out who it is."

Darien chanced an annoyed glance at the girl. "I really do enjoy being alive. If you're so brave you go out there." There arguing was cut off as they noticed a bunch of feet surrounding the car.

Serena turned her head and noticed that they were surrounded on all sides. Closing her eyes she murmured, "Look behind you."

"What?" Darien asked busy trying to come up with an escape plan in his head.

"I said look behind you," Serena repeated gritting her teeth. Darien turned his head and swallowed hard. The two slowly got up and backed up against the car. It was hard to see the people surrounding them. Their faces were hidden by shadows and they held flashlights in their hands.

Darien stepped forward in front of Serena. "Look we don't mean any trouble," he started holding up his empty hands in a peace gesture. "We're lost. We were headed to Cooperville but took a wrong turn somewhere."

"Darien," a voice called out. The duo looked over to see the mass of people shift and one person move forward towards them. "Is that you?" The man stepped forward into the light and Darien sighed in relief.

"Dr. Conner!"

"Oh, thank God!" the doctor turned to the people around him. "Tell the others we found them," he ordered before moving forward to shake Darien's hand. "Whoa, what happened to you?" He looked Darien up and down critically taking in his bruised and tattered image.

Darien only groaned. "Trust me Doc, you don't want to know."

Serena by now had stepped out from behind Darien and was looking at the man curiously. "Ah, you must be Serena then." He reached oveer to shake her hand too. "I'm Dr. Conner. When the two of you didn't show up we got worried and decided to send a search party out for you guys. This place is easy to get lost around." The doctor smiled and gestured the two to follow him. "Come on. Let's get the two of you to town. You guys look like you've been through World War III and back!" He laughed. Darien and Serena just shared a relieved look and followed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Serena ran back and forth between the tents delivering supplies and running errands for Dr. Conner and the other more experienced volunteers. It was around 2pm in the afternoon and it seemed that the day would never end. After arriving back with the search party she and Darien had quickly cleaned up and been given something to eat. Then they had been shown where the other volunteers were sleeping and had been pretty much knocked out until 9 in the morning when the actual work began. Since then Serena had barely seen Darien and had been kept busy the whole time.

The blonde pigtailed girl slowly dragged over the last box of supplies that had been needed over to the main medical tent before collapsing in one of the fold up chairs in exhaustion. Lizzie one of the head volunteers laughed and told her to go ahead and take a break. Serena let out a grateful sigh and headed out to find a quite place to relax. Spotting a nice out of the way tree she sank down in its shade and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

"Taking a break?" The young girl looked up and smiled as Dr. Conner sat down next to her. "I could use a short break myself. It's been a long day." He closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree. He was a young guy, maybe around 26 years old, tall with wavy brown hair and green eyes. From what Serena had seen of him so far he was a really nice and sympathetic sort of person.

Serena nodded in agreement. "Sure has. But I've never felt more satisfied."

The doctor opened his eyes and smiled warmly at his companion. "Yes, it is satisfying isn't it? That's one of the main reasons I became a doctor in the first place. The feeling of satisfaction I receive after helping someone is like nothing else." The two sat in silence for a while. "So tell me, Serena. Do you want to become a doctor, one day?"

Serena let out a short laugh. "Me, a doctor? No way!" Dr. Conner laughed at her tone of voice. "I've spent most of my life being scared of visiting doctors. I'm in no mood to spend the rest of my life working in a hospital or anywhere like it." Serena grinned as the doctor continued to laugh. "Actually, I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life." Her smile faded as she looked out into the distance.

Dr. Conner smiled understandingly and patted her on the shoulder. "You'll figure it out soon enough. For now though I should at least get back to work." Serena nodded as he got up and started to head back to the place where the medical supplies and such were set up.

Serena watched him go before suddenly remembering something. "Oh, Dr. Conner," she called out jumping up and hurrying after him. The doctor paused and turned around to face the volunteer. "When is the first set of volunteers leaving? One of my friends is changing apartments and I promised her I'd return home as soon as possible so that I could help her," Serena asked anxiously.

"I believe a couple will be leaving tomorrow morning," he responded thoughtfully. "You can return with them. I'll let them know you'll be accompanying them later."

Serena beamed in relief. "Thanks, Doc!" He gave her a mock salute and resumed walking. Serena stretched and decided she might as well get back to work as well. But before she could follow the doctor back a voice from behind stopped her.

"Why do you need to get back so soon?" Serena turned around only to find Darien behind her. The girl crossed her arms defensively and looked away.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have to help Lita pack. She's moving into her new apartment this week."

"Fair enough," Darien replied. Serena turned away and once more started to walk back towards the medical tent. "But is that the real reason you're leaving or just an excuse."

"What?" Serena spun around in confusion. Darien stepped closer to her a serious expression on his face.

"I mean, are you really leaving because of Lita or to get away from here as quickly as possible, away from me?"

"What do you mean?" She asked confused and indignant.

"Only," Darien began, taking another step closer to Serena and forcing her to take one back. "That you're afraid of me," he finished still moving forward.

"Afraid," Serena stammered continuing to back away. "Why would I be afraid of you?"

"You're afraid." Serena felt her back hit the tree. "You're afraid that if you stay here with me away from all of our friends then something could happen between us." The stammering girl gasped as Darien caged her in with his arms. "You're afraid that if we both stay here together that one of us will…" Darien leaned closer to a wide eyed Serena eyes half lidded. "That one of us will…" he repeated in a whisper leaning even closer.

"Serena! Lizzie needs you!" Serena pushed Darien away with a startled gasp.

"Com-coming!" she choked back quickly rushing away from Darien as fast as possible.

Darien stood watching her with an amused expression on his face. With a slight smirk he followed the flustered blonde to where everyone else was. _So she does feel something_ he thought to himself with a small smile.

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A/N: Please review!!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad you're enjoying this story.**

**Chapter 7**

Serena spent the rest of the day working as hard as she could and avoiding Darien with everything she was worth. Though it wasn't so hard as he had made himself scarce after the incident. She guessed he was helping out on the other side of the town.

The sixteen year old had no idea what had gotten into her rival so suddenly. Sure she had caught him looking at her like that before. Each time it had sent shivers coursing through her and she had responded by quickly finding an excuse to be somewhere else. But he had never tried anything like earlier. Having him so close had caused her to feel things she had long since buried under years of annoyance and aggravation. She wasn't about to start feeling them now. And what ever was going through his head was probably just a side effect of hitting his head too hard during their adventure last night. _Yeah, that must be it, _she though. _Nothing but some mental trauma. He'll be back to normal soon._ But for the rest of the day she couldn't get the image of his eyes out of her head; could not forget the feeling of being pressed up against the tree with him so close out of her mind; was ready to admit that if she hadn't been trying to escape him by returning early before she might be now. And then when she realized what she was doing she just wanted to scream and throw something at him for turning her life upside down. For the rest of the day she made sure she was always surrounded by as many volunteers as possible to avoid any chances of confrontation with him.

She didn't see him again until later that night after dinner. She was sitting with some of the younger volunteers around a campfire at the edge of the town near the forest line when Darien and a couple others joined them. Their eyes locked and she was the first one to quickly look away unable to stand looking into his knowing eyes. Thus she missed his warm smile.

Serena leaned back on her arms and tilted her head up to stare at star filled night sky. It was truly beautiful. The quiet night noises surrounding her as well as the soft chattering of the other volunteers created a peaceful atmosphere. And despite Darien being there as well Serena couldn't help but wish for that peacefulness to last.

"I know. How about we play truth or dare?" Serena looked up as one of the volunteers voiced this idea. The others nodded enthusiastically as everyone had gotten bored. "Ok so the only rule is nothing truly ridiculous or dangerous." There were nods of agreement and someone pulled out an empty bottle of coke.

"Ok," Another volunteer spoke up. "This is how it works. The person the bottom of the bottle lands on gets to choose the truth or dare, the one the top of the bottle lands on is the victim." With that he reached over and spun the bottle.

It landed on a muscular guy sitting a couple of people over from Darien, the other end pointing at the same girl who had come up with the idea. "So Drew, Truth or Dare?"

Drew smirked, "I'm afraid I'm feeling a bit lazy so truth." There were groans of annoyance from the others as Drew only laughed in response.

"Let's see," the questioner said tilting her head to the side and tapping her chin in thought. "Got one," she smirked. "So let's say hypothetically you meet someone for the first time and it's a disaster. They hate you and you hate them. After that you two never get along because you base all other encounters with this person on your experiences during the first time. What if eventually your feelings start to change. Do you go ahead and try to mend the relationship or avoid the person and continue treating them like you always have?" The girl sat back with a grin, and the others leaned forward in interest to hear the guy's response. Serena had frozen as soon as the question had started and looked uneasily over to Darien who was staring intensely back at her.

"I'm assuming this is a boy/girl rivalry we're talking about, Sarah. And that one of them is starting to fall for the other." Drew glanced over to Sarah and she nodded with a grin. "Well then, I think that he/she should definitely try to change the relationship for the better. Who knows? They could probably be even better as a couple then as rivals. But I think he/she should take it slow. May try to not argue or fight as much with the other. Perhaps drop subtle hints about their own feelings. If they take things to fast the other might think its nothing more then a cruel joke."

"Wow, that was deep." The others started laughing. Serena stared at her lap her heart pounding and mind racing._ It couldn't be. He can't feel anything for me._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Five times more the bottle was spun. So far only two people had picked dare. Finally it came to a stop in front of Serena. The blonde haired girl swallowed and slowly looked up into the eyes of her worst nightmare. Blue clashed against blue, and a demonic smirk slowly overtook the face of her executioner. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief.

"Ah, this must be my lucky day," came the unmistakable drawl of her nemeses. "What secrets should I have you reveal?" He tapped his chin in mock thought.

Serena's eyes flew open in anger. "Excuse me! Aren't you even going to ask me which one I want before you just assume that I'm going to pick truth?" She glared furiously at the arrogant man in front of her. The other volunteers watched in amusement having gotten used to their bickering over the course of the day.

"Why should I ask, Meatball Head? We all know you're going to pick truth." Serena huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms in defiance. She refused to admit that she was indeed going to pick truth. Darien smirked, sensing victory.

"Stop teasing her, Darien," one of the volunteers called out with a laugh. "Come on Serena, truth or dare?"

"Yeah, Meatball Head. What'll it be: truth or dare? Though I doubt you have the guts to pick dare." Serena glared at him. No way would she prove him right.

"Dare," she snapped.

"Dare, how interesting." Serena felt her stomach drop at Darien's smug expression. Why did she feel like she had fallen into his trap? Swallowing hard she nodded for Darien to name his challenge.

Darien glanced around for a second before his eyes fell on the woods to the side. Smirking he turned back to Serena. "See that forest." He paused for a second. "Go in there and spend ten minutes in there by yourself." Serena's eyes widened in fear.

"No, Darien that's crazy. This late at night and you want her to go in there alone," Sarah snapped.

"No way, Serena. There's no reason for you to go into the forest," another volunteer agreed.

"Oh come on you guys. If Serena doesn't want to accept the dare then let her say so herself," another person called out. There were a few more calls for her to accept the dare.

"Come on, Meatball head." Darien watched her in amusement. "Are you too afraid, or do you accept the dare?" Scowling Serena jumped up and spinning around stomped off towards the trees.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews. Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 9**

"That Jerk," Serena growled walking briskly through the forest. "Who does he think he is? Just give me a chance. I'll teach him…"

A growl froze Serena in her steps and she nervously looked around suddenly becoming aware of all the noises surrounding her. She swallowed hard and slowed her pace down. Looking from left to right she winced at every new sound that filled the night. A rustling to her right froze her. A sudden howl caused her to scream and take off in a random direction.

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Back in town Serena's scream had all the volunteers jumping to their feet. "Something must be wrong. Someone should go after her," a red head murmured uneasily.

"Fine, I'll go get her." Darien glanced worriedly towards the trees. "If I'm not back in ten minutes get help," he ordered the others. Everyone nodded and Darien began to trek towards the forest.

"Meatball Head!" Darien shouted as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest. "Trust that girl to get lost." He winced and mentally slapped himself for giving her such a troublesome dare. "Come on Serena! Where are you?"

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Serena ran and ran until she suddenly tripped over a tree root and went sprawling to the ground. Groaning she slowly pulled herself up. The hooting of a howl had her jumping to her feet again. "Come on, Serena. Get a hold of yourself." The girl took a deep breath. "The ten minutes must be up by now. I just need to get out of here." With that Serena turned around only to realize that nothing looked familiar. "Oh no…which way did I come from." Closing her eyes she spun in a circle and pointed in a random direction. Opening her eyes she smiled and started walking in that direction.

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"I hope she's okay," Darien murmured picking up his pace. "Trouble really is her middle name… Hey, Meatball Head!" Suddenly a howl echoed through the woods stopping him in his path. "Oh man," he groaned. Looking around he scooped up a thick tree branch and continued on his way. "Meatball Head!" he called out again. Hearing a sudden rustling too his right he slowly made his way over holding the branch out in front. With a deep breath he jumped over the bush with a yell and began swinging the branch around.

"Ahhhh!!!!" Serena's scream brought Darien to a sudden halt and he watched in shock as the young girl huddled in a ball at the base of a tree screaming with her eyes shut.

"Meatball Head!" Darien dropped the branch and quickly stooped down and grabbed the screaming girl by her shoulders. "Hey, hey! It's just me," he cried shaking her until she calmed down. Serena let out a sob and flung herself into his startled arms. Darien relaxed and wrapped his arms around her in turn. "Shhh," he murmured gently rocking her. "Everything's alright now." Slowly he stood up bringing Serena up with him still wrapped in his arms. "I'm so sorry I made you come in here," he whispered. "I shouldn't have dared you to do that." Serena only whimpered and buried herself further into his arms. Darien rubbed her back soothingly. "If you were that frightened of the dark, you shouldn't have agreed. No one would have said anything."

Serena stiffened in his arms and with an angry growl shoved him away. "Oh, so now it's my fault that this happened," she snapped.

"That's not what I meant. I-" Darien reached out to pull her back into his arms only to have her swat his hands away from herself.

"And no one would have said anything, huh? You mean to tell me you wouldn't have held it over my head." Serena glared in anger at the flustered young man in front of her.

"Serena-" She only turned her back to him. He growled in annoyance. "Fine, be that way. I don't even know why I bother." Stepping towards her he grabbed her hand and began to pull her along behind him.

"Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing?" Serena tried to pull her hand free but Darien only held on tighter.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to get us out of here," Darien snapped while quickening his pace. Finally pulling herself free from his grip, Serena came to an abrupt halt.

"No thanks! I can find my way on my own. I don't need your help." Darien turned around to argue only to have Serena push him out of her way. "Oh, and by the way," she called out over her shoulder. "I beat your challenge."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Darien cursed and chased after the fuming girl. "Wait up, Meatball Head!" Serena ignored him and continued on her way. Catching up with her Darien grabbed her from behind to make her stop. "You're going the wrong way. I just came from the town and I came from that way." Darien pointed in the opposite direction in which the girl had been heading. Serena folded her arms in defiance.

"No," she stated mater of factly. "It's this way." Spinning around she once more began heading in her original direction. Darien grabbed her arm before she could get too far and pulled her back.

"How can you be so sure," he demanded. "Do you have a compass on you somewhere?"

"No," she snapped pulling her arm out of his grasp. "It's called instinct. You go that way, I'm going this way." Once more she made a move to go but Darien moved in front of her blocking her path.

"Move," she snapped trying to push him out of her way.

"Listen to me." Darien again tried to move in front of her. "Wait a second."

"Get out of my way."

Busy shoving at each other they didn't see the sudden drop. With a cry the two went flying over the edge. Darien managed to grab Serena and pull her close as the two rolled to the ground. Finally they came to a stop, Serena on top of Darien. Groaning Serena pulled herself up a little and immediately froze as her eyes locked with Darien's. Mesmerized the two continued to stare into each others eyes for a few seconds in shock before Serena seemed to recollect herself and rolled off of him. Embarrassed she pulled herself up into a seated position and looked away.

Darien too tried to sit up before wincing in pain and clutching his arm. Serena glanced at him in alarm "What's wrong?"

Darien pulled himself up and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Come on, let me see." Serena reached over and tried to grab Darien's arm only to have him pull it back. "Stop being so stubborn." Darien sighed and finally let her take a look. Serena inspected his arm carefully taking note of the deep gash and seeping blood before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a white handkerchief. Taking a hold of his arm again she carefully wiped away the blood and tied it around his arm to stop any further bleeding. Darien silently watched her with a soft expression in his eyes.

"Idiot," she muttered. "This is all your fault, you know." Serena finished tying the handkerchief and stood up. "If you hadn't dared me then none of this would have happened," she snapped looking around in the hopes of finding some clue to where they were.

"My fault! My fault…" Darien threw his hands up in exasperation before wincing at the pain. Serena glanced down at him worriedly but he ignored her and stood up as well. "Look we're still heading in the wrong way. You've had your turn now we're going to go my way. Follow me and don't say a word." Serena looked up indignantly.

"What?!"

"Not a word," Darien snapped turning around and waving an angry finger at her.

"But…"

"No," Darien snapped walking backwards. Serena's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something again. "I said no." Shaking his finger at Serena's suddenly alarmed look he took another step back and tripped over a root landing on his butt. Wide eyed he stared up at his silently snickering companion. Darien sat up in embarrassment. "Couldn't you have said something?" He asked annoyed.

Serena only smirked in response. "I tried. You wouldn't let me." Darien rolled his eyes. Standing up he started walking again as Serena still snickering followed behind.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Since classes start up again tomorrow I don't know when I'll be able to update again. I'll try to update whenever I have time. Thanks to everyone that has been reading this. Enjoy and don't forget to review!**

**Chapter 11**

"Hey, Meatball Head. Which way did we come from, left or right?" Darien was trying to retrace their footsteps but wasn't having much luck. Nothing looked familiar.

"Dunno. Does it even matter?"

Darien glanced back at her in surprise. "Meaning?"

"Meaning we're lost, Darien. Whether we got lost from the left or the right, what does it matter?"

Shaking his head at her he glanced around silently. "No, I think we came from the right. Come on."

"No." Darien spun around in surprise and watched Serena sit down on a fallen log.

"What do you mean 'no'?" He asked sarcastically crossing his arms in annoyance.

"We're lost Darien. And I'm tired and hungry. I'm not moving." She looked up daring her companion to contradict her.

"Oh really, and what do you want me to do about it? This isn't some garden you can just sit down in to relax. Nor are there any restaurants around." Serena stuck her nose in the air and refused to meet his eyes. "Come on, Meatball Head. Let's at least find someplace we can use for shelter until the morning." Serena looked up into his exasperated face and stood up.

"Fine."

******************************************************************

They had been walking for some twenty minutes before Serena refused to go any further. Wind blew around them and it was obvious that it would start storming soon. Sitting down with her back to a tree she called a halt. "I don't care anymore. I'm too tired to go any further."

Darien sighed tiredly. "Meatball head."

"No." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. Darien shook his head.

"Fine, wait here." He turned and began walking away from her.

"Hey! Where are you going?" she called after him in surprise.

"I'm going to find us somewhere to take shelter before it starts to rain," he called back over his shoulder. Serena huffed and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. She jumped slightly as a low rumble of thunder sounded and swallowed thickly. _I hate storms_ she thought. Another louder boom followed by a flash of lightening had her up on her feet screaming. Consumed with her fear she took off running in the direction that Darien had gone. Eyes closed she didn't see Darien hurrying back and flew right into him. Upon realizing who it was she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.

Darien looked down at the frightened girl in shock. Slowly he placed a hand on her head and caressed her hair. A soft whimper brought him back to his senses. "Come on Meatball Head." He pulled her away a little so he could see her face. "I found somewhere we can stay the night." Another round of thunder and lightening had Serena back in his arms. This was shortly followed by the skies opening up and a torrent of rain falling around them. Darien sighed and stooping slightly scooped Serena up bridal style before heading in the direction he had just come from. Trembling Serena wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face into his neck.

Darien walked into an abandoned shed and placed the soaked girl on the ground. "Well Meatball head, this'll be our hotel for the night." Serena glanced around as Darien scooped up some fallen debris and started a fire. There was only one bare room. It didn't seem as if anyone had stayed in it for many years. Water leaked in from a few places but overall it was pretty dry.

The two sat across from each other and warmed and dried themselves over the fire. Darien watched as Serena shivered. Glancing down at the green jacket he had tied around his waist sometime during their hike through the forest, he scooted over until he was sitting next to the suddenly wary girl. "You know this is my favorite jacket," he started as he held it in his hands. Serena looked on suspiciously. "And if I give it to you it'll be ruined," he looked over to her with a teasing smile. Serena only scowled in return.

"It's okay. I don't want your jacket."

"Too bad, Meatball head. If you don't take my jacket, you could get pneumonia. And if you get pneumonia then you could die. If you die then I'm going to have to spend all night in this shed with your corpse. And then when I get back to town your friends will say to me, 'Darien, because of this jacket of yours our friend is dead.' By now Serena had begun to giggle slightly. Darien grinned in return. "And you know I'm really in no mood to deal with the wrath of your friends." That said he reached over and wrapped the jacket around the still giggling girl. That done he moved back to his place across the fire from her.

"You know when you laugh, you don't look too bad," Darien remarked with a smile. Serena looked up with a light blush.

"Neither do you," she responded shyly avoiding his eyes by staring at the fire. Darien smirked.

The two sat in silence for a few more minutes lost in their own thoughts. "Hey, Darien?" The young man looked up at Serena who was still staring at the fire. "Earlier today," she started only to falter. "Wha-what…why?" She looked up at him from under her eyelashes confusion and something else shining brightly in her eyes.

Darien found himself mesmerized for a few seconds. Shaking his head to bring himself back to Earth he gave her a small smile. "Forget about it," he whispered. "It's not important." Serena hesitated for a second before smiling in turn and pillowing her head on her knees. A few moments later and she was asleep.

Quietly Darien stood up and moved over to her. Gently moving her so that she was laid out on the floor with her head pillowed comfortably in his lap he spent the rest of the night watching her sleep with a soft look in his eyes.


End file.
